Multi-hop relaying using energy harvesting

In this letter, the performance of multi-hop relaying using energy harvesting is evaluated. Both amplify-and-forward and decode-and-forward relaying protocols are considered. The evaluation is conducted for time-switching energy harvesting as well as power-splitting energy harvesting. The largest number of hops given an initial amount of energy from the source node is calculated. Numerical results show that, in order to extend the network coverage using multi-hop relaying, time-switching is a better option than power splitting and in some cases, decode-and-forward also supports more hops than amplify-and-forward

Equirectangular image construction method for standard CNNs for Semantic Segmentation

360{\deg} spherical images have advantages of wide view field, and are typically projected on a planar plane for processing, which is known as equirectangular image. The object shape in equirectangular images can be distorted and lack translation invariance. In addition, there are few publicly dataset of equirectangular images with labels, which presents a challenge for standard CNNs models to process equirectangular images effectively. To tackle this problem, we propose a methodology for converting a perspective image into equirectangular image. The inverse transformation of the spherical center projection and the equidistant cylindrical projection are employed. This enables the standard CNNs to learn the distortion features at different positions in the equirectangular image and thereby gain the ability to semantically the equirectangular image. The parameter, {\phi}, which determines the projection position of the perspective image, has been analyzed using various datasets and models, such as UNet, UNet++, SegNet, PSPNet, and DeepLab v3+. The experiments demonstrate that an optimal value of {\phi} for effective semantic segmentation of equirectangular images is 6{\pi}/16 for standard CNNs. Compared with the other three types of methods (supervised learning, unsupervised learning and data augmentation), the method proposed in this paper has the best average IoU value of 43.76%. This value is 23.85%, 10.7% and 17.23% higher than those of other three methods, respectively

Identification of a family of Bsp-A like surface proteins of Entamoeba histolytica with novel leucine rich repeats.

Leucine rich repeats serve as recognition motifs for surface proteins from bacteria and eukaryotes. The BspA protein from Bacteroides forsythus mediates bacterial binding to fibronectin and contains leucine rich repeats of the Treponema pallidum (TpLRRP) family. Here we show that the protozoan parasite Entamoeba histolytica contains multiple BspA-like proteins, including a family of surface proteins which possess a new form of a leucine rich repeat that differs from the standard Treponema pallidum- like leucine rich repeat (TpLRRP) by possessing two conserved cysteine residues

Multi-Hop Relaying Using Energy Harvesting

In this letter, the performance of multi-hop relaying using energy harvesting is evaluated. Both amplify-and-forward and decode-and-forward relaying protocols are considered. The evaluation is conducted for time-switching energy harvesting as well as power-splitting energy harvesting. The largest number of hops given an initial amount of energy from the source node is calculated. Numerical results show that, in order to extend the network coverage using multi-hop relaying, time-switching is a better option than power splitting and in some cases, decode-and-forward also supports more hops than amplify-and-forward

Aberrant structural and functional alterations in postpartum depression: a combined voxel-based morphometry and resting-state functional connectivity study

ObjectivesPostpartum depression (PPD) is a severe postpartum psychiatric disorder with unclear pathogenesis. Previous neuroimaging studies have reported structural or functional alterations in areas associated with emotion regulation, cognitive disorder, and parenting behaviors of PPD. The primary goal of this investigation was to explore the presence of brain structural alterations and relevant functional changes in PPD patients.MethodsA total of 28 patients and 30 matched healthy postnatal women (HPW) underwent both three-dimensional T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and resting-state functional MRI. Structural analysis was performed by voxel-based morphometry (VBM), followed by resting-state functional analysis using a seed-based whole-brain functional connectivity (FC) approach with abnormal gray matter volume (GMV) regions as seed.ResultsCompared with HPW, the PPD patients showed increased GMV in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC.L), the right precentral gyrus (PrCG.R), and the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). In the PPD group, the DLPFC.L showed increased FC with the right anterior cingulate and paracingulate gyri (ACG.R) and the right middle frontal gyrus (MFG.R); the FC between the PrCG.R and the right median cingulate and paracingulate gyri (DCG.R) exhibited enhanced; the OFC showed increased FC with MFG.R and the left inferior occipital gyrus (IOG.L). In PPD, GMV of DLPFC.L was positively correlated with EDPS scores (r = 0.409 p = 0.031), and FC of PrCG.R-DCG.R was positively correlated with EDPS scores (r = 0.483 p = 0.020).ConclusionStructural and functional damage of the DLPFC.L and OFC is associated with cognitive disorders and parenting behaviors in PPD, while structural abnormalities of the DLPFC.L and PrCG.R are involved in impaired executive function. The increased GMV of DLPFC.L may be a unique structural pathological mechanism of PPD related to the inability of PPD patients to withstand long-term parenting stress. These findings have important implications for understanding neural mechanisms in PPD

Significance of Photosynthetic Characters in the Evolution of Asian Gnetum (Gnetales)

Gnetum is a genus in the Gnetales that has a unique but ambiguous placement within seed plant phylogeny. Previous studies have shown that Gnetum has lower values of photosynthetic characters than those of other seed plants, but few Gnetum species have been studied, and those that have been studied are restricted to narrow taxonomic and geographic ranges. In addition, the mechanism underlying the lower values of photosynthetic characters in Gnetum remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated the photosynthetic characters of a Chinese lianoid species, i.e., Gnetum parvifolium, and co-occurring woody angiosperms growing in the wild, as well as seedlings of five Chinese Gnetum species cultivated in a greenhouse. The five Gnetum species had considerably lower values for photosynthesis parameters (net photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, intercellular CO2 concentration, and stomatal conductance) than those of other seed plant representatives. Interrelated analyses revealed that the low photosynthetic capacity may be an intrinsic property of Gnetum, and may be associated with its evolutionary history. Comparison of the chloroplast genomes (cpDNAs) of Gnetum with those of other seed plant representatives revealed that 17 coding genes are absent from the cpDNAs of all species of Gnetum. This lack of multiple functional genes from the cpDNAs probably leads to the low photosynthetic rates of Gnetum. Our results provide a new perspective on the evolutionary history of the Gnetales, and on the ecophysiological and genomic attributes of tropical biomes in general. These results could also be useful for the breeding and cultivation of Gnetum

Cerebellum and hippocampus abnormalities in patients with insomnia comorbid depression: a study on cerebral blood perfusion and functional connectivity

Chronic insomnia disorder and major depressive disorder are highly-occurred mental diseases with extensive social harm. The comorbidity of these two diseases is commonly seen in clinical practice, but the mechanism remains unclear. To observe the characteristics of cerebral blood perfusion and functional connectivity in patients, so as to explore the potential pathogenesis and biological imaging markers, thereby improving the understanding of their comorbidity mechanism. 44 patients with chronic insomnia disorder comorbid major depressive disorder and 43 healthy controls were recruited in this study. The severity of insomnia and depression were assessed by questionnaire. The cerebral blood perfusion and functional connectivity values of participants were obtained to, analyze their correlation with questionnaire scores. The cerebral blood flow in cerebellum, vermis, right hippocampus, left parahippocampal gyrus of patients were reduced, which was negatively related to the severity of insomnia or depression. The connectivities of left cerebellum-right putamen and right hippocampus-left inferior frontal gyrus were increased, showing positive correlations with the severity of insomnia and depression. Decreased connectivities of left cerebellum-left fusiform gyrus, left cerebellum-left occipital lobe, right hippocampus-right paracentral lobule, right hippocampus-right precentral gyrus were partially associated with insomnia or depression. The connectivity of right hippocampus-left inferior frontal gyrus may mediate between insomnia and depression. Insomnia and depression can cause changes in cerebral blood flow and brain function. Changes in the cerebellar and hippocampal regions are the result of insomnia and depression. They reflect abnormalities in sleep and emotion regulation. That may be involved in the pathogenesis of comorbidity

Proteomic Comparison of Entamoeba histolytica and Entamoeba dispar and the Role of E. histolytica Alcohol Dehydrogenase 3 in Virulence

The protozoan intestinal parasite Entamoeba histolytica infects millions of people worldwide and is capable of causing amebic dysentery and amebic liver abscess. The closely related species Entamoeba dispar colonizes many more individuals, but this organism does not induce disease. To identify molecular differences between these two organisms that may account for their differential ability to cause disease in humans, we used two-dimensional gel-based (DIGE) proteomic analysis to compare whole cell lysates of E. histolytica and E. dispar. We observed 141 spots expressed at a substantially (>5-fold) higher level in E. histolytica HM-1∶IMSS than E. dispar and 189 spots showing the opposite pattern. Strikingly, 3 of 4 proteins consistently identified as different at a greater than 5-fold level between E. histolytica HM-1∶IMSS and E. dispar were identical to proteins recently identified as differentially expressed between E. histolytica HM-1∶IMSS and the reduced virulence strain E. histolytica Rahman. One of these was E. histolytica alcohol dehydrogenase 3 (EhADH3). We found that E. histolytica possesses a higher level of NADP-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase activity than E. dispar and that some EhADH3 can be localized to the surface of E. histolytica. Episomal overexpression of EhADH3 in E. histolytica trophozoites resulted in only subtle phenotypic differences in E. histolytica virulence in animal models of amebic colitis and amebic liver abscess, making it difficult to directly link EhADH3 levels to virulence differences between E. histolytica and less-pathogenic Entamoeba